Just in time for “Star Wars” day, the new trailer for the animated series “Star Wars Rebels” has arrived — and the clip instantly recalls the original trilogy with a very familiar sounding Imperial March.

“Star Wars Rebels” is set about five years before the beginning of “Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope,” and follows the adventures of a group of heroes desperately trying to combat the all-consuming might of the Empire, the fascistic government arisen from the ashes of the Old Republic in “Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith.”

The series, overseen by supervising director and executive producer Dave Filoni, whose work on “The Clone Wars” has made him well known in “Star Wars” fan circles, will premiere on the Disney Channel in the fall before it shifts to Disney XD for the rest of the episodes.

Filoni has said the look and feel of “Star Wars Rebels” will recall the original trilogy of films, hewing to more action-oriented stories and a lighter, more fast-paced feel.

Of the differences between the two series, Filoni told Hero Complex last year: “ ‘Rebels’ will be different from ‘The Clone Wars’ in a couple ways, and one is the decision to stick with one story and one main group of characters. We wanted fans to get to know the new characters and what they are fighting for. Each episode has its own unique story, while still fitting into the much larger picture of what is going on in the ‘Star Wars’ universe. ‘Rebels’ will tell the story of a group of characters — in this way it is more like the original trilogy which followed Han, Luke and Leia — where the prequels showed us the grand scale and political as well as personal.”

Filoni is also one of the team of writers who will be working to oversee future “Star Wars”-related tales in the Expanded Universe — the loosely interlocked series of books, comics, video games and other ancillary products that have served to fill out the imaginary universe George Lucas established in his six original films.

Other members of the story team include such longtime Lucasfilm employees as author Pablo Hidalgo, Leland Chee, the keeper of the Holocron continuity database, and “Rebels” executive producer Dave Filoni. Other members include Lucasfilm head of development Kiri Hart and screenwriter Simon Kinberg.

What do you think of the new trailer? Please leave your thoughts in the comments section below.

And click through the gallery of images above for a more detailed look at Kanan, the hero of “Star Wars Rebels.”

4 Responses to ‘Star Wars Rebels’: Animated series trailer arrives for May the Fourth

Correction: The Expanded Universe does not exist any more. All products produced (games, comics, books) will now will be considered to be equal in stature to the canon presented in the films and TV shows. This is possible thanks to the Story Team who will be directly managing the Star Wars canon and ensuring everything fits well into the new vision of Star Wars.